1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of print drivers, and more particularly relates to variable data printing within a print driver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Variable Data Printing (VDP) is used for print jobs with unique printed data, such as a name and address, account information or custom text or images. VDP is typically used to print multiple copies of a print job, where each copy has some content that varies from other copies.
The complexity of VDP systems often varies, depending on the type of print job to be performed. For example, VDP can be used for simple applications like mail merge, in which different mailing addresses are printed for each copy. VDP can also be used for more complex targeted marketing systems. For example, when sending automobile brochures to customers, VDP can be used to personalize brochures based on a customer's age, marital status, yearly income, etc. In one instance, if a customer is married, the brochure can show pictures of minivans. In another instance, if a customer is single and wealthy, expensive sports cars can be shown.
Conventional VDP solutions typically reside upstream from the printing system. However, such VDP solutions often use proprietary software, which can be expensive and resource-intensive.